Smith Canal area residents to vote on flood gate

Residents in the Smith Canal area will soon be asked to pay for a $36 million flood control gate that would lift the burden of mandatory flood insurance from thousands of homeowners.

Alex Breitler

CORRECTION: March 13, 2013Cost of the food control gate is $36 million, not $37 million. The error has been corrected online.

Residents in the Smith Canal area will soon be asked to pay for a $36 million flood control gate that would lift the burden of mandatory flood insurance from thousands of homeowners.

The San Joaquin Area Flood Control Agency voted last week to restart the process, which was put on hold in 2011 as officials waited for grant money from the state and sought a clearer picture of how many homeowners are in the flood zone.

Public outreach meetings will be held later this spring, with ballots mailed to the 8,000-plus property owners in April.

This all started five years ago when the Federal Emergency Management Agency put the Smith Canal area in a flood zone after local officials said they had no way to evaluate the levees along the canal because of homes built on top of them. Homeowners with mortgages were required to buy flood insurance starting in 2009.

Building a gate would block Delta water from surging up the canal during floods. With that protection, FEMA has said it would remove the insurance restriction.

Ultimately, residents will have to decide if they're willing to pay a yearly assessment for the gate - averaging about $164 for a typical single-family home - or whether they will continue paying for insurance at the subsidized rate of $414 per year.

Adding a new twist, there has been talk of those lower insurance rates expiring, flood agency director Jim Giottonini told his board last week. Rates could eventually ramp up to $5,640 a year, he said, though such a dramatic increase has been put off "indefinitely." Local officials are in Washington this week to attempt to clarify the situation.

On the other hand, the cost of the gate has also increased - from an estimated $30 million to $36 million. Engineer Chris Neudeck said the increase was to address concerns that the structure would cause a deterioration in water quality.

Officials are working on the assumption the state will pick up half of the cost of the project, or about $18 million.